Ancestry Book to Grace New York in November 2011

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Author Isaac Crawford Jr.’s new book of genealogy will be featured at this year’s New York Library Association Book Exhibit

DALTON, Mass. (PRWEB)November 01, 2011

Author Isaac Crawford Jr.’s Beating the Odds: A Story of Survival will be featured at this year’s New York Library Association Book Exhibit in Saratoga Springs, NY on November 2-5, 2011. This book traces the author’s family tree, helping him learn of his lineage and the many significant events that surrounded America that time.

From the Crawford side of his family, the earliest traceable ancestor is Caroline Crawford who was born in Virginia in 1834. In the 1870 U.S. Census, she was recorded as a thirty-six-year-old mother of seven children. According to family legend, the father of her children was a full-blooded Indian, but there’s no name to trace. In all probability, she was a former slave in the household of Oliver and Delina Crawford, who provided land for her family after emancipation while she continued being their housekeeper.

On the Maternal side of the family are the Wrights whose matriarch, Martha Sloane, was born a slave in Virginia. Virginia was the birthplace of slavery in the 1600s and over a couple of hundred years many large plantations developed harboring hundreds of slaves and breaking up families by selling and shipping spouses and offspring to other parts of the country. In addition, the owners, their family members, or overseers of the plantation sired many of these offspring. Martha was one of them; the result of the union of her mother, a house servant, and the Irish overseer from St. Louis, Missouri in 1830.

The author shares three generations of memories to portray the strength of the people who were before him. He unmasks the faces of those who deserve recognition for contributing to the genes he has today. Through telling this story, he is able to take readers to the time of the Civil War, including pre- and post-Civil War periods. He shares his heritage to all in Beating the Odds: A Story of Survival.

About the Author
Isaac Crawford, Jr. was born in Normal, Illinois on June 25, 1924. Isaac is a graduate of Tuskegee Institute, now Tuskegee University, with a degree in Hotel, Restaurant Management. Between his sophomore and junior years in college, he served for three years in the US Navy as ship's cook. This was during World War II. He married Rosemary Persip, a native of Pittsfield, Massachusetts on August 24, 1947. They have two children, four grandchildren and four great grandchildren. He worked for 19 years as a chef and caterer at Williams College, resorts, and a gourmet restaurant. With a Masters Degree in Education he went into teaching science as a substitute at Wahconah Regional High School. Aside from this he taught English and Geography at Cheshire Elementary. He was also once a Related Theory instructor and department chairman in Culinary Arts for 21 years at McCann Technical School. This book provides many details of family history and research and battles against adversity.

Members of the media who wish to review this book may request a complimentary paperback copy by contacting the publisher at (888) 795-4274 x. 7879. To purchase copies of the book for resale, please fax Xlibris at (610) 915-0294 or call (888) 795-4274 x. 7879.